System for inhibiting pathogenicity in the rice-blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea

ABSTRACT

In  Magnaporthe  species and other plant pathogenic fungal species, the appressoriu, (infection structure) is responsible for breaching the host plant cell wall and gaining entry into the host tissues.  Magnaporthe  ABC3 protein is an MDR transporter that plays an important role during host penetration and also is involved in regulating fungal response to intracellular oxidative stress. The insertional mutant abc3Δ, in which the ABC3 efflux pump function is blocked, lacks functional appressoria and is therefore incapable of causing disease in host plants. This invention provides the abc3 nucleic acid (gene) and ABC3 protein from  Magnaporthe  or from  Aspergillus, Ustilago  or  Fusarium  and describes methods for reducing plant pathogenicity for important rice pathogens.

This application is a 35 U.S.C. §371 National Entry Application from PCT/SG2007/000071, filed Mar. 14, 2007 which claims the benefit of prior co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 60/782,515, filed Mar. 16, 2006, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to the field of molecular biology and plant fungal disease. In particular, the invention relates to the discovery of a fungal protein that is essential for pathogenicity in Magnaporthe grisea, a plant pathogen.

2. Description of the Background Art

The ascomycete Magnaporthe grisea causes disease in several monocot plant species, including blast disease in the important crop rice, and represents a model system to study fungal-plant interaction. See Ou et al., Rice Diseases, Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Surrey, 1985; Valent et al., “Rice blast as a model system for plant pathology” Phytopathology 80:33-36, 1990. Rice blast disease is an important problem in rice cultivation and a major threat to food security around the world, causing very significant crop losses annually. M. grisea also can cause diseases in a number of other important cereal crops such as wheat, rye and barley, and also in weed and turf grasses.

The asexual life cycle of M. grisea involves sporulation of the fungal hyphae to produce fruiting structures called conidia. The conidia contain many spores, which germinate in a suitable environment on a host plant, and develop to form a specialized infection structure termed an appressorium. These appressoria penetrate the plant cell by producing a penetration peg that is forced through the plant cell wall to begin infection. Upon entry of the fungus into the host cells, the fungus proliferates by forming penetration and infectious hyphae that establish and spread the disease lesions. See Hamer and Talbot, “Infection-related development in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea.” Curr. Opin. Microbiol., 1:693-697, 1998; Talbot, “On the trail of a cereal killer: Exploring the biology of Magnaporthe grisea” Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 57:177-202, 2003. Infection of immature plants often is fatal. While mature plants usually survive, crop yield is considerably curtailed due to reduced photosynthesis and use of photosynthate by the invading fungal hyphae.

Currently, outbreaks of blast disease are controlled by applying expensive and toxic fungicidal chemicals such as probenazole, tricyclazole, pyroquilon and phthalide, or by burning infected crops. These methods are only partially successful since the fungus can develop resistance to the chemical agents and weed grasses may serve as a disease reservoir after burning. Clearly, improvements are needed in methods to control blast disease in rice and other cereal crops.

Transmembrane proteins belonging to the ubiquitous ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily have been identified in several genera of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including fungi. See Higgins, “ABC transporters: from microorganisms to man” Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 8:67-113, 1992. The P-glycoproteins are a subfamily of plasma membrane-localized ABC transporters that modulate a multi-drug resistance (MDR)-related efflux of a broad range of compounds such as sugars, inorganic ions, heavy metal ions, peptides, lipids, metabolic poisons and drugs to effectively reduce the cellular accumulation of toxic compounds by efflux from the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane to the cell exterior. See Kolaczkowski et al., “In vivo characterization of the drug resistance profile of the major ABC transporters and other components of the yeast pleiotropic drug resistance network” Microb. Drug Resist. 4:143-158, 1998; Driessen et al., “Diversity of transport mechanisms: common structural principles” Trends Biochem. Sci., 25:397-401, 2000. ABC transporters play a major role in multidrug resistance (MDR), a mechanism that operates in mammalian tumor cells. The MDR subfamily of efflux pumps includes the multidrug resistance P-glycoproteins. Several MDR-type P-glycoproteins have been shown to catalyze the ATP-dependent efflux of anti-tumor agents during cancer chemotherapy. See Cole et al., “Overexpression of a transporter gene in a multidrug-resistant human lung cancer cell line” Science, 258:1650-1654, 1992; Gottesman and Pastan, “Biochemistry of multidrug resistance mediated by the multidrug transporter” Annu. Rev. Biochem., 62:385-427, 1993.

Identification and subsequent sequence comparisons of more than a hundred genes encoding ABC transporters show that the ABC proteins have one or two well-conserved nucleotide-binding folds of approximately 200 amino acid residues and the Walker A and B motifs as well as the SGG(Q) signature. Michaelis and Berkower, “Sequence comparison of yeast ATP-binding cassette proteins” Cold Spring Harbor Symp., Quant. Biol. LX:291-307, 1995. Several members of this large superfamily transport cytotoxic agents across biological membranes, reducing the intracellular level of toxins and metabolites. Driessen et al., “Diversity of transport mechanisms: common structural principles” Trends Biochem. Sci. 25:397-401, 2000.

In filamentous fungi, ABC transporter activity likely is involved in energy-dependent efflux of fungicides or phytoalexins in Aspergillus nidulans (Andrade et al., “The ABC transporter AtrB from Aspergillus nidulans mediates resistance to all major classes of fungicides and some natural toxic compounds” Microbiology, 146:1987-1997, 2000; Andrade et al., “The role of ABC transporters from Aspergillus nidulans in protection against cytotoxic agents and in antibiotic production” Mol. Gen. Genet., 263:966-977, 2000), A. fumigatus (Tobin et al., “Genes encoding multiple drug resistance-like proteins in Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus” Gene, 200:11-23, 1997), Botrytis cinerea (Vermeulen et al., “The ABC transporter BcatrB from Botrytis cinerea is a determinant of the activity of the phenylpyrrole fungicide fludioxonil” Pest Manag. Sci. 57:393-402, 2001), M. grisea (Urban et al., “An ATP-driven efflux pump is a novel pathogenicity factor in rice blast disease” EMBO J. 18:512-521, 1999), Gibberella pulicaris (Fleissner et al., “An ATP-binding cassette multidrug-resistance transporter is necessary for tolerance of Gibberella pulicaris to phytoalexins and virulence on potato tubers” Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 15: 102-108, 2002) and Mycosphaerella graminicola (Stergiopoulos et al., “The ABC transporter MgAtr4 is a virulence factor of Mycosphaerella graminicola that affects colonization of substomatal cavities in wheat leaves” Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 16:689-698, 2003; Zwiers et al., “ABC transporters of the wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola function as protectants against biotic and xenobiotic toxic compounds” Mol. Genet. Genomics 269:499-507, 2003). However, none of these previously known fungal transporter molecules belong to the P-glycoprotein or MDR subfamily of the ABC transporters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention described and claimed herein include an abc3 gene of SEQ ID NO:1 and an ABC3 protein of SEQ ID NO:2. The invention's embodiments also include an isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein-coding region of the abc3 gene, which can be selected from those of Magnaporthe, Aspergillus, Ustilago or Fusarium species abc3 gene, for example.

An embodiment of the invention is the abc3 gene, which preferably is SEQ ID NO:1. A further embodiment of the invention is an ABC3 protein, which preferably is SEQ ID NO:2. Included in the invention are nucleic acids that encode an ABC3 protein as listed above and described herein.

Further embodiments of the invention include a method of rendering plant pathogenic species including Magnaporthe species, such as Magnaporthe grisea, or Aspergillus, Ustilago or Fusarium species, non-pathogenic to a plant by applying an ABC3 inhibitor to the plant or expressing an ABC3 inhibitor in the plant. ABC3 inhibitors may be selected from a peptide, a nucleic acid that encodes the peptide, a protein, a nucleic acid that encodes the protein, a peptide-mimetic compound, an organic chemical, a replacement plasmid vector, an antisense nucleic acid or any combination thereof. One example of an ABC3 inhibitor is pFGLabcKO.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a phylogram of MDR proteins related to Abc3 protein, depicting the phylogenetic relatedness of Magnaporthe ABC1 and ABC1 proteins with the MDR or ABC proteins from the yeasts Saccharomyces (ScSTE6 and ScPDR5) Schizosaccharomyces (SpPMD1), and Candida (CaCDR1). The evolutionary distance scale (Mya) and the branch lengths are indicated. Bootstrapping (1000 replicates/iterations) was used to generate the phylogenetic tree using the MEGA 3.1 Neighbor-joining algorithm.

FIG. 2 is a phylogram of MDR proteins related to Abc3 protein, depicting the most parsimonious phylogenetic relatedness of Magnaporthe ABC3 protein with the MDR proteins from the indicated genera within eukaryotes.

FIG. 3 is a multiple sequence alignment used for the phylogenetic analysis of ABC3-related MDR proteins. MgABC3 (Magnaporthe grisea)=SEQ ID NO: 25; ScSTE6 (Saccharomyces ceriviseae)=SEQ ID NO:26; SpPMDI (Schizosaccharomyces pombe)=SEQ ID NO: 27; ScPDR5 (Saccharomyces ceriviseae)=SV.Q ID NO:28; CaCDRI (Candida albicans)=SEQ ID NO:29; MgABCI (Magnaporthe grisea)=SEQ ID NO: 30.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are photographs of barley leaf explants inoculated with conidiospores of TMT2807 or wild-type (WT) strain.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are photographs of barley leaf explants inoculated with conidiospores of TMT2807 or wild-type (WT) strain.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the annotated ABC3 locus spanning a HindIII-PvuII fragment from Contig 67 on Supercontig 5.117 in M. grisea.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show Southern blot analyses of the ABC3 mutants and the Complemented strain.

FIG. 8 shows the gene sequence of abc3 (SEQ ID NO:1). Exons are shown in upper case letters; introns are shown in lower case letters.

FIG. 9 shows the protein sequence of ABC3 (SEQ ID NO:2).

FIG. 10 is a photograph of a wild-type, an abc3Δ mutant and an abc3Δ strain complemented with the full length ABC3 (Comp). The strains were grown on complete medium for a week and photographed. Scale bar=1 cm.

FIG. 11 is a bar graph showing perithecia development by the indicated Magnaporthe strains in individual sexual crosses with the tester strain of the opposite mating type, assessed 3 weeks post inoculation.

FIG. 12 is a photograph of conidia from the wild type or abc3Δ strain which were allowed to germinate on complete medium for 16 hours and then visualized after acid fuchsin staining. Bar=20 microns.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are photographs showing the morphology of appressoria 24 hours after inoculation on a hydrophobic inductive surface. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 14 shows hypersensitivity-reaction (HR) assessed 48 hours after infection with Magnaporthe strains and represent the ratio of rice Pr-1 gene expression to that of the Actin transcript. Bar=1 cm.

FIG. 15 shows barley leaves challenged with wild type or abc3Δ conidia and co-stained with DAB and Trypan blue to detect peroxide- and HR-associated cell death, respectively. The arrowhead indicates a rare HR event in the host upon challenge with the mutant.

FIG. 16 shows conidia from wild type or abc3Δ mutant inoculated on abraded barley leaves (FIG. 17, upper panels) or injected at the base of barley leaves (FIG. 17, central panels) or the base of rice-leaf sheaths (FIG. 17, bottom panels). Bar 0.5 cm.

FIG. 17 shows equivalent numbers of conidia from wild type or abc3Δ mutant were inoculated onto synthetic membranes (PUDO-193 cellophane) and assessed for germination, appressoria formation, surface penetration and invasive growth. The arrowhead indicates invasive growth. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 18 is a photograph of penetration and invasion 48 hours after inoculation on onion epidermal strips. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 19 is a photograph of penetration and invasion 48 hours after inoculation on barley leaf explants. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 20 shows data for appressorium formation at 24 hours and appressorium function (host penetration and invasion, as judged by aniline blue staining of resultant callose deposits) at 48 hours (wild type, shaded; abc3Δ mutant, black).

FIG. 21 is a set of transmission electron photomicrographs showing barley leaves challenged with conidia from wild type or abc3Δ mutant at the indicated time points. Bar=2 mm, except for the middle right panel where it denotes 1 mm.

FIG. 22 is a pair of photographs showing wild type or abc3Δ mutant conidia, inoculated on Barley-leaf explants, onion epidermal strips or rice-leaf sheaths and processed for aniline blue staining after 72 hours.

FIG. 23 is a bar graph presenting quantified data from FIGS. 21 and 22.

FIG. 24 shows the results of an appressorial assay performed in a host or on cellophane, comparing viability and invasive growth of wild type and abc3Δ mutant conidia.

FIG. 25 is a photograph showing serial dilutions of wild type or abc3Δ conidial suspensions, cultured in the presence (20 mg/ml) or absence (0 mg/ml) of Valinomycin on complete growth medium for 5 days.

FIG. 26 is a photograph of wild type or abc3Δ conidial suspensions, cultured in the presence (20 mg/ml) or absence (0 mg/ml) of Valinomycin on artificial inductive membranes for 36 hours. Bar=15 mm.

FIG. 27 shows fission yeast strains as indicated after 5 days growth on YES medium in the presence or absence of Valinomycin.

FIG. 28 shows mycelial plugs from the wild type or abc3Δ strain cultured on minimal agar medium with the indicated amounts of hydrogen peroxide.

FIG. 29 shows serial dilutions of conidiospore suspensions from the wild type or abc3Δ strain cultured on minimal agar medium with the indicated amounts of hydrogen peroxide.

FIG. 30 shows three-(top panels) or six-(bottom panels) day-old colonies of wild type or abc3Δ colonies, stained with NBT solution to detect peroxide accumulation.

FIG. 31 shows wild type and abc3Δ appressoria formed on artificial membranes (upper panels) or on barley leaf explants (lower panels), stained with diaminobenzidine to detect the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (arrowheads) Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 32 is a fluorometric analysis showing total extracts from wild type or abc3Δ appressoria, treated with CM-DCFDA.

FIG. 33 is a bar graph showing the degree of restoration of appressorium function by antioxidant treatment. Values in FIG. 33 represent mean±SD from three independent experiments each involving 2000 conidia per strain.

FIG. 34 shows the percentage of appressoria that elaborated penetration pegs in the presence and absence of 3 mM peroxide.

FIG. 35 is a set of photographs of mycelia and conidia harvested from a strain expressing an ABC3-GFP fusion protein and imaged using laser-scanning confocal microscopy to detect the eGFP signal. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 36 is a set of photographs showing appressorium development in the germ tubes of a Magnaporthe strain expressing ABC3-GFP strain at the indicated time points, imaged using GFP epifluorescence. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 37 is a set of photographs showing vacuolar distribution of ABC3-GFP. Scale bars denote 10 mm.

FIG. 38 is a set of photographs showing confocal microscopy assisted analysis of ABC3-GFP localization in the penetration structures (arrowhead) elaborated by the appressoria in PUDO-193 membrane. Bar=10 micron.

FIG. 39 shows appressorium development over the indicated time course, imaged using GFP epifluorescence. The bar equals 10 mm. Arrowheads indicate the vacuolar distribution of ABC3-GFP.

FIG. 40 is a set of photographs showing the effect of intracellular and extracellular extracts prepared from the appressoria of the wild type or abc3Δ strain in barley leaf infection assays.

FIG. 41 is a bar graph showing appressorium function in the absence or presence of the intracellular neutral extract from the abc3Δ mutant. Values represent mean±SD from three replicates of the experiments.

FIG. 42 is a bar graph showing cell viability assessed with Phloxine B staining in vegetative mycelia from the wild type (gray) or abc3Δ (black) strains.

FIG. 43 shows the results of barley-leaf inoculation assays in the absence (−EXT; solvent control) or presence (+EXT; at 1× or 0.5× concentration) with wild type conidia.

FIG. 44 is a set of epifluorescent photomicrographs showing conidia from the ABC3(p)::deGFP strain which were allowed to undergo appressorium development for 24 hours in the absence (Control) or presence (Treated) of 1 mM hydrogen peroxide. Bar=10 mm.

FIG. 45 shows results of semi-quantitative RT-PCR amplification using ABC3 or MgCHAP1 or MgTUB1 specific primers from total RNA extracted from the wild type strain grown for the indicated hours post inoculation (hpi) on barley leaves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To successfully invade a host plant and to cause blast disease, phytopathogenic fungi such as M. grisea need to adapt to the specific environment of the host and overcome or survive the cytotoxic and antifungal compounds or phytoalexins produced by the plant hosts. See Dixon et al., “Early events in the activation of plant defense responses.” Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 32:479-501, 1994; Kodama et al., “Sakuranetin, a flavonone phytoalexin from ultraviolet-irradiated rice leaves.” Phytochemistry 31:3807-3809, 1992; Osbourn, “Preformed Antimicrobial Compounds and Plant Defense against Fungal Attack” Plant Cell 8:1821-1831, 1996. Intragenome BLAST (Magnaporthe Genome Database, Broad Institute, USA) computer searches revealed that the Magnaporthe genome encodes at least 76 ABC-like transporters.

The gene discovered here was found to be unique and showed scant similarity to the other ABC molecules within the Magnaporthe genome and proteome, and thus failed to predict any true orthologs. The data presented here showed that ABC3 protein is a transmembrane protein enriched in the outer membranes of the infection structure. A significant distribution of ABC3 protein also was observed in the vacuoles during the late stages of appressorium formation. Host infection data clearly showed that ABC3 protein has acquired a more specialized role in pathogenicity during its evolution from or along with the yeast orthologs.

TMT2807 was isolated as a non-pathogenic mutant in Magnaporthe. Molecular genetics and further characterization of TMT2807 enabled identification of the MDR P-glycoprotein encoding gene abc3 as a pathogenicity factor in Magnaporthe. To confirm the role of ABC3 protein in Magnaporthe pathogenesis, abc3Δ mutants were created and characterized in two separate wild type backgrounds (Guy11 and B157). The studies clearly demonstrated that loss of ABC3 protein in Magnaporthe completely destroys pathogenicity towards rice and barley. The abc3Δ colonies were slow growing compared to the corresponding wild type, but were largely unaffected in morphology and in conidia formation. Genetic complementation analyses confirmed that the defects seen in the TMT2807 and abc3Δ strains were due solely to the loss of ABC3 function.

Mutational analysis of the gene abc3, has allowed definition of an important role for MDR-based efflux during the host penetration step of Magnaporthe pathogenesis. Mutants lacking the abc3 gene (abc3Δ) were completely nonpathogenic, but surprisingly were capable of penetrating thin cellophane membranes to a limited extent. Studies described below showed that the inability of abc3Δ to penetrate the host surface is most likely due to excessive buildup of peroxide and accumulation of inhibitory metabolite(s) within the mutant appressoria. Treatment with antioxidants partially suppressed the host penetration defects in the abc3Δ mutant. The amount of the inhibitory metabolite(s) and/or the timing of their production may be the limiting factors that allow the mutant to escape the maximal activity of these inhibitors on cellophane. Another likely possibility is that maximum turgor generation is probably not necessary on cellophane surfaces.

ABC3 protein is required for Magnaporthe pathogenesis. Its function is most likely critical at the host penetration step during blast disease establishment. The vast majority (˜99%) of abc3Δ appressoria lacking ABC3 function failed to breach the host surface even upon extended incubation. Using papillary callose deposits and TEM analyses, it was discovered that only a negligible number of mutant appressoria made futile attempts at host penetration, however the fungus was able to elicit weak hypersensitivity reaction within the host tissue during compatible and incompatible interactions, as well as upon host inoculation through wounds or by injection.

The abc3Δ mutant was highly sensitive to oxidative stress and was unable to survive the host environment and invasive growth conditions. The ABC3 transcript was upregulated at the early stages of plant infection.

The studies reported here have determined that functional ABC3 is required for proper operation of appressoria (infection structures) during the initial pathogenic phase of rice-blast fungus. Without ABC3 function, host penetration during the disease establishment phase does not take place. As a consequence, mutants lacking operational ABC3 are completely nonpathogenic. Fungal mycelia and appressoria from the ABC3-deleted strain showed a multidrug-sensitive phenotype when tested with several different classes of peptide antibiotics such as valinomycin. This suggests that ABC3 protein is required for the efflux of these or other toxic compounds across the fungal membrane under normal circumstances.

ABC3 protein transcript levels were redox-responsive, and on host surfaces, activation of ABC3 occurred during initial stages of blast disease establishment. Model compounds of oxygen radical production, such as paraquat and hydrogen peroxide, modulated ABC3 protein levels in a redox-sensitive manner. Cells lacking ABC3 protein were sensitive to oxidative stress but not to osmotic shock or nutrient deprivation. This suggests that the loss of appressorium function in abc3Δ mutants is a consequence of the mutant's inability to cope with cytotoxic and oxidative stress. The data presented here therefore indicate that ABC3 function helps Magnaporthe to cope with cytotoxicity and oxidative stress within the appressoria during early stages of infection-related morphogenesis and that it likely imparts a defense against certain antagonistic and xenobiotic conditions encountered during pathogenic development.

Thus, ABC3 function provides the blast fungus with an important defense against the xenobiotic and antagonistic environment encountered on and in the host plant. Taking advantage of this mechanism, embodiments of the invention provide a method of combatting blast diseases caused by M. grisea or any other fungus expressing ABC3 protein by inhibiting the protein function in the plant or plant environment. This may be accomplished by applying ABC3 inhibitors to the plant or the environment around the plant or by causing the plant to express inhibitors.

Exogenously applied intracellular extracts from abc3Δ appressoria reduced the wild type strain's ability to penetrate host surfaces and cellophane membranes. This suggests that the abc3Δ mutant is defective in toxic metabolite efflux and that ABC3 transporter activity is most probably required for the timely efflux of certain inhibitory metabolite(s) during the host penetration step of blast infections. The accumulation of these toxic metabolites in appressoria likely causes penetration inhibition. Exogenous addition of the toxic metabolite(s) during wild type infection assays discernibly reduced blast symptoms, but hyper-sensitivity reaction was noticeable in the host leaf even in the absence of the blast fungus.

Cytorrhysis assays (Howard et al., “Penetration of hand substrates by a fungus employing enormous turgor pressures” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88:11281-11284, 1991; de Jong et al., “Glycerol generates turgor pressure in rice blast” Nature, 389:244-245, 1997) revealed that there was no significant reduction in the overall turgor generated by abc3Δ appressoria, despite having an average size slightly larger than the wild type appressoria. The abc3Δ appressoria were capable of penetrating cellophane membranes, albeit less efficiently than the wild type strain. Subsequent invasive growth and spread within the cellophane membranes were however significantly compromised in the abc3Δ mutant, which also showed reduced viability under these conditions.

To begin this study, a forward genetics approach was used to isolate a mutant, TMT2807, of the rice-blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. TMT2807 was identified as a mutant incapable of causing blast disease on barley leaves although its infection structure formation appeared normal. Molecular genetics and further characterization of this mutant strain revealed that M. grisea contains a P-glycoprotein-encoding gene, hereinafter termed abc3, and that loss of function of this gene resulted in loss of pathogenicity.

With Agrobacterium T-DNA-mediated insertional mutagenesis, ABC3 function was identified as an essential factor in host penetration during Magnaporthe pathogenicity. Further characterization revealed that the ABC3 protein functions during the late appressorium stage and is required for successful entry of the fungus into host tissue. Therefore, loss of ABC3 protein results in cessation of infection-related morphogenesis which occurs during plant host penetration by the fungus. As a consequence, mutants lacking ABC3 were incapable of host penetration. The abc3 gene therefore is a new virulence determinant in Magnaporthe.

The role of ABC3 in Magnaporthe pathogenesis was confirmed by studies on TMT2807 and a Magnaporthe insertional mutant (abc3Δ) created in two separate wild type backgrounds which lack the P-glycoprotein-based efflux function. DNA fragments (about 1.1 kb each) representing the 5′ and 3′ UTR of ABC3 gene were obtained by PCR, ligated sequentially so as to flank the HPH1 cassette in pFGL44 to obtain plasmid vector pFGLabcKO. Linearized pFGLabcKO was introduced into wild-type M. grisea for a one-step replacement of the ABC3 gene with HPH1 cassette. The complete M. grisea ABC3 locus was obtained as a 6.3 kb HindIII fragment from the BAC 22C21 and cloned into the HindIII site of pFGL97 to obtain pFGLr2 with resistance to bialaphos or ammonium gluphosinate as a fungal selectable marker for the rescue transformation. See Example 1. Southern blots analyses were performed to confirm successful gene deletion strains and single-copy genomic integration of the ABC3 rescuing cassette. Flanking sequence analysis suggested that the insertion occurred in an as yet un-annotated region represented by Contig 2.904 from the Magnaporthe genome sequencing project. There also was a discrepancy in the neighboring contigs (contigs 2.903 and contig 2.902 do not exist). The disrupted gene locus of these mutants (abc3) encodes a protein with extensive homology to the Cluster II.2 (TC#3.A.1.201) type P-glycoprotein transporters such as human MDR1.

Annotation of the coding region confirmed this. A targeted gene deletion exercise for the complete open reading frame of the annotated gene (abc3) was performed to assess its role in Magnaporthe pathogenicity. Mycelia from the resulting mutant abc3Δ strain showed a slight reduction in vegetative growth on rich medium, although conidia formation remained unaffected. This suggested that ABC3 function is needed for maximal vegetative growth of Magnaporthe. Loss of ABC3 function, however, completely abolished appressorial function, which led to a complete cessation of host penetration. Complementation analysis using a full-length abc3 genomic clone rescued all the phenotypic defects associated with the loss of ABC3 function.

ABC3 protein showed extensive similarity to several MDR-like proteins from filamentous fungi, most notably Phaeosphaeria, Fusarium, Neurospora and Aspergillus species. Intragenome BLAST (Magnaporthe Genome Database, Broad Institute, USA) searches using ABC3 protein as the query revealed that Magnaporthe genome encodes at least 76 ABC-like transporters, and further identified a paralog (MG09931.4; 56% similarity) within the Magnaporthe proteome. Such paralogs also were uncovered in Aspergillus, Fusarium and Neurospora species. Their occurrence suggested a recent gene duplication event.

Phylogenetic analyses revealed that ABC3 protein most likely belongs to a distinct class of MDR transporters that is separate from those represented by Pmd1 and AtrC. ABC3 protein from M. grisea had extensive similarity to the mammalian (human) MDR/P-glycoprotein, HsMDR1, and to several MDR-like proteins from fungi and yeasts. It was most closely related to Fg6881, a hypothetical ORF from Fusarium spp.

ABC3 protein was able to functionally replace Pmd1 (its potential ortholog from the fission yeast) and, like Pmd1, regulated resistance towards cyclic peptide antibiotics such as Valinomycin. Compared to wild type fission yeast cells, however, the pmd1Δ mutant did not show any growth-related defects in contact with barley or rice leaf surfaces. Unlike the abc3-related Step 6 in budding yeast, Pmd1 is not required for mating. However, abc3 seems to have retained at least some important function in the mating pathway since loss of ABC3 led to a decrease in the overall number of perithecia. ABC3 protein, like its ortholog Step 6 from budding yeast, is required for fertility of the blast fungus. The closely related AfuMDR1 from A. fumigatus is specific for the antifungal agent Cilofungin, whereas AtrD, which is 76% identical to AfuMDR1, serves as an efflux pump for fenarimol. Thus the degree of primary sequence homology does not correlate strictly with similar substrate specificity.

The inability to recover viable cultures of the abc3Δ mutant from the inoculation sites in the host beyond 30 hours post infection also indicates that ABC3 protein is likely important for in planta survival and spread of Magnaporthe. In preliminary analyses the abc3Δ mutant's loss of viability appeared to be independent of the autophagic cell death pathway that has recently been implicated in conidial cell death during initiation of blast disease. Alternatively, it is possible that the increased cell death in the mutant is a consequence of excessive ROS accumulation.

The function of ABC3 protein in the regulation of oxidative stress is different from that found in its counterparts in fungus. The results presented here showed that loss of ABC3 protein renders the blast fungus more sensitive to oxidative damage. Compared to the wild type, abc3Δ mutant appressoria accumulate significantly higher levels of reactive oxygen intermediates. This peroxide accretion occurred under in vitro and in planta conditions. Suppressing this peroxide accumulation with exogenous antioxidants partially suppressed the host penetration defects in the abc3Δ mutant. Conversely, addition of exogenous peroxide, menadione or paraquat during infection assays significantly blocked the growth and function of wild type Magnaporthe conidia and appressoria. These data taken together indicate that the failure of abc3Δ appressoria to invade the host is caused by the cumulative effect of: (1) the accumulation of inhibitory metabolite(s) and (2) an excessive build-up of reactive oxygen intermediates. An observation of interest was the redox-sensitive regulation of ABC3 expression demonstrated using a GFP reporter construct. This suggests that ABC3 protein is a new MDR or P-glycoprotein that regulates fungal pathogenicity per se as well as the ability of the blast fungus to withstand host-specific environmental conditions.

Magnaporthe host plants are known to secrete a number of phytotoxins and other pathogenesis-related proteins upon fungal challenge. See, for example, Dixon et al., “Early events in the activation of plant defense responses” Annu. Rev. Phytopathol., 32:479-501, 1994; Osbourn, “Preformed Antimicrobial Compounds and Plant Defense against Fungal Attack” Plant Cell, 8:1821-1831, 1996; Kodama et al., “Sakuranetin, a flavonone phytoalexin from ultraviolet-irradiated rice leaves” Phytochemistry, 31:3807-3809, 1992. It is therefore likely that the abc3Δ mutant accumulates intracellularly toxic antifungal agent(s) of plant origin and that it is this which ultimately halts fungal growth and proliferation. The same would be true of any blast fungus that lacked sufficient ABC3 protein function, and therefore can serve as a point to combat blast disease. Alternatively, the abc3Δ mutant might be incapable of transporting as yet unidentified pathway intermediate(s) or host-specific toxic compound(s) that have deleterious effects within the fungal appressoria. The abc3Δ mutants lacking ABC3 protein function here failed to penetrate the host surface even upon extended incubation. Interestingly, these mutants were histologically similar to wild type when grown on artificial surfaces and were fully capable of invasive growth and spread in these surfaces. Thus, it appears likely that the ABC3 transporter is required for the efflux of one or more host-specific compounds during the penetration step.

Localization studies using an ABC3:GFP fusion protein showed that ABC3 is a plasma membrane resident protein in early appressoria and in penetration hyphae and thus would be accessible to peptide or similar antifungal agents in the external environment. Interestingly, ABC3 protein also localizes to the vacuolar lumen during the late appressorial stage, thus making it available to antifungal-agents accessible to the internal membrane compartments. Subsequently, the ABC3-GFP became plasma membrane-associated in primary penetration hyphae.

Thus, ABC3 is an important pathogenicity factor in Magnaporthe (and orthologs available in all pathogenic fungi sequenced thus far) that can be controlled using antifungal agents or inhibitors directed against it. Because ABC3 is a fungal-membrane resident pump involved in efflux of one or more toxic metabolites or inhibitors of appressoria function, deletion of this efflux function leads to hypersensitivity to hydrogen peroxide levels in the abc3Δ strain. This mechanism could play a role in regulation either of peroxide levels or intermediates derived from peroxide-related metabolism. The ABC3 protein also could function as a counter-defense mechanism in down-regulating the host response, based on the build-up of reactive oxygen species. Identifying molecules upstream and downstream of ABC3 and its potential substrates could lead to important molecular insights into the signaling mechanisms that are essential to host penetration by the fungus.

Inhibitors of ABC3 protein can be applied to plants or to the environment to impair or otherwise modify ABC3 function and block host penetration by the blast fungus and thus disease in the plant host. Such ABC3 inhibitors may include peptide or peptide-mimetic compounds, proteins or nucleic acids, for example a regulatory element, an antisense molecule or a replacement plasmid vector that knocks out the abc3 gene, which interfere with ABC3 function or expression. Peptide or protein inhibitors may be applied to the plant to be treated or protected. Small molecule (i.e. drug-like organic chemical molecules and the like as are known in the art) inhibitors of ABC3 protein function also are contemplated for use in methods of treating or preventing blast disease. Such small molecule inhibitors or peptide inhibitors may be identified according to conventional screening methods known in the art. Small molecule fungicides that specifically inhibit ABC3 function can be sprayed directly on the host plants to reduce fungal penetration and disease without the broad toxicity caused by traditional anti-fungal agents. Thus, an ABC3 inhibitor is any molecule which, when present in the plant, on the plant or in contact with the Magnaporthe pathogen.

Alternatively, host plants can be engineered to express protein or peptide ABC3 inhibitors, to create disease-resistant plants. The plant may be transformed with a gene such that the protein or peptide inhibitor is expressed in the plant or in appropriate tissues of the plant. Methods for producing transgenic plants of this type are known in the art, and any conventional methods are contemplated for use with this invention. Because other fungal species, including other pathogens, express related multi-drug resistance pumps, these methods would be useful in modifying the activity of ABC3 homologs in other fungal pathogens to reduce and control their ability to cause disease as well.

The fungal protein ABC3 therefore could be used in designing effective control agents against blast disease per se. For example, small molecule inhibitors or short peptides that block the function of ABC3 protein or perturb the requisite metabolic pathway(s) could be designed and such inhibitors would be, for example, spray inoculated or expressed in planta to prevent establishment and/or spread of disease. Such inhibiting agents also can be used on ABC3 orthologs in other pathogenic fungi to control the respective fungal diseases of plants and animals. Such orthologs include the abc3-encoding nucleic acids and ABC3 proteins of any plant pathogenic Aspergillus, Ustilago and Fusarium species as well as Magnaporthe species. These orthologs therefore are considered part of this invention, as well as methods using their analogous to those disclosed herein.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Identification and Isolation of the ABC3 Locus

Schizosaccharomyces pombe wild-type strain YNB38 (h-, ade6-M216/leu1-32/ura4-D18/his3-D1) was maintained on yeast-extract plus supplements (YES) agar medium or under selection on Edinburgh minimal media (EMM), with appropriate supplements, using standard techniques as described in Moreno et al., “Molecular genetic analysis of fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe” Meth. Enzymol., 194:795-823, 1991. Strains were grown on agar plates or in liquid media at 32° C.

Wild-type strains of M. grisea, Guy11 (mat1-2) and TH3 (mat1-1), were used in the following methods. Guy11, and the abc3Δ knockout and complementation strains were cultured on prune-agar medium or complete medium (CM) as described by Soundararajan et al., “Woronin body function in Magnaporthe grisea is essential for efficient pathogenesis and for survival during nitrogen starvation stress” Plant Cell, 16:1564-1574, 2004. Mycelia, collected from 2-day-old liquid CM-grown cultures were used to isolate nucleic acids. The M. grisea strains were cultured for a week on solid CM to assess the growth and colony characteristics unless indicated otherwise. Mycelia used for total protein extraction were obtained by growing the relevant strains in liquid CM for 3 days at 28° C. Mating analyses were performed as described by Valent et al., “Magnaporthe grisea genes for pathogenicity and virulence identified through a series of backcrosses” Genetics 127:87-101, 1991.

Conidia were obtained by scraping 8 day old cultures grown under constant illumination. Mycelial bits were separated from conidia by filtration through two layers of Miracloth™ (Calbiochem™, San Diego, Calif.) and resuspended to a concentration of 10⁵ spores per milliliter in sterile distilled water. For light microscopy, individual droplets (30 μl) of conidial suspensions were applied to plastic cover slips or other membranes and incubated under humid conditions at room temperature. Microscopic observations were made after 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours.

cDNA synthesis and subsequent PCR amplification was conducted using Reverse Transcriptase, AMV and Taq DNA polymerase. For the 5′ RACE, Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase Recombinant (Promega™) was used. The following primers were used for 5′ RACE and 3′ RACE: Abc-5′ RACE 5′-CGGAACCAGATATGAGGAGCTGTTGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:3) and RACE-Oligo dT-anchor 5′-GACCACGCGTATCGATGTCGACTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:4); RACE-anchor 5′-GACCACGCGTATCGATGTCGAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:5), and Abc-3′ RACE 5′-TGATGCTGGTGTTGTACATG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:6). For semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiments, the following primers were used: MgChap1F (CAAGCCGATAGACACACTGAC; SEQ ID NO:7) and MgChap1R (GAACTAATCGTCCTCAGTGC; SEQ ID NO:8) (this ORF is not annotated but maps to contigs 2.1212 and 2.1211); MgTubF (AAACAACTGGGCCAAGGGTCACTACA; SEQ ID NO:9) and MgTubR (CCGATGAAAGTCGACGACATCTTGAG; SEQ ID NO:10) corresponding to ORF MG00604.4; and Abc3F (CGTTATGCAGTCCATGTGGATGAGTC; SEQ ID NO:11) and Abc3R (ACGATTTGTTCGCTGCGCACGTCGAT; SEQ ID NO:12). The oligonucleotide primers for the RT-PCR experiments on hosts were: HvPr5F (CGCAGAGCAACAACAGTAAAGC; SEQ ID NO:13) and HvPr5R (ACGCCTATTATTGGTTGGCG; SEQ ID NO:14); and Hvact10F (CTGTCTTTCCCAGCATTGTA; SEQ ID NO:15) and Hvact10R (ATCCTCGGTGCGACACGGAG; SEQ ID NO:16).

For real-time PCR, total RNA was extracted from the requisite samples as described (Ramos-Pamplona and Naqvi, “Host invasion during rice-blast disease requires carnitine-dependent transport of peroxisomal acetyl-CoA” Mol. Microbiol. 61(1):61-75, 2006), treated with RNAase-free DNase (Roche Diagnostics™), and 1 μg was reverse-transcribed for 60 min at 42° C. using a Reverse Transcription Kit (Roche Diagnostics™) in the presence of random primers and oligo (dT₁₈). Quantitative PCR was performed by monitoring in real time the increase in fluorescence of the SYBR Green dye on an Applied Biosystems™ Real-Time PCR 7900HT instrument, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Primers used for the amplifications were Pr-1F (ATGGAGGTATCCAAGCTGGCCATT; SEQ ID NO:17); Pr-1R (GTAAGGCCTCTGTCCGACGAAGTT; SEQ ID NO:18); ActinF (TAGTATTGTTGGCCGTCCTCGCCACAC; SEQ ID NO:19); ActinR (GATGGAATGATGAAGCGCATATCCTTC; SEQ ID NO:20); HvPr5F (CGCAGAGCAACAACAGTAAAGC; SEQ ID NO:21); HvPr5R (ACGCCTATTATTGGTTGGCG; SEQ ID NO:22); Hvact10F (CTGTCTTTCCCAGCATTGTA; SEQ ID NO:23) and Hvact10R (ATCCTCGGTGCGACACGGAG; SEQ ID NO:24). Each RT-PCR quantification was carried out in triplicate. Melting curve analysis was applied to all final PCR products after the cycling protocols. Values for each gene were normalized to the expression level of the respective control condition and used further to calculate the ratio of the expression levels of the requisite transcripts (for example, Pr-1/Actin).

Protein purification and immunoblotting procedures were performed as described by Soundararajan et al., “Woronin body function in Magnaporthe grisea is essential for efficient pathogenesis and for survival during nitrogen starvation stress.” Plant Cell, 16:1564-1574, 2004. Protein concentrations were determined according to the Bradford method using a commercial kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories™). The enhanced chemiluminescent method (ECL kit; Amersham Biosciences™) was used for Southern and western blot analysis.

Multiple sequence alignments were initially performed using ClustalW (Thompson et al., 1994) for the following MDR sequences related to Abc3 protein: Mus (ABCB1, NP_(—)035206), Rattus (ABCB1a, NP_(—)596892), Cricetulus (ABCB1, P21448), Homo (ABCB1, AAW82430), Canis (MDR1, AAY67840), Ovis (MDR1, NP_(—)001009790), Xenopus (MDR11, NP_(—)989254), Gallus (LOC420606, XP_(—)418707), Oryza (XP_(—)467259), Chaetomium (CHGG_(—)08744; EAQ84730), Neurospora (re-annotated NCU06011.2 and NCU9975.1), Magnaporthe (ABC3, AAZ81480 and MG09931.4), Fusarium (FG06881.1; FG03323.1; FG08823.1; FG02786.1; FG01684.1), Aspergillus (AAD43626; Afu7g00480; AN9342.2; AN2349.2; XP_(—)747768; BAE64667; BAE61398; AAD25925; AAB88658; AN3608.2; XP 751944), Coccidioides (EAS34680; EAS30718; EAS35426), Saccharomyces (STE6; CAA82054); Schizosaccharomyces (MAM1, P78966; PMD1, CAA20363); Ustilago (UM06009.1), Cryptococcus (CNA07730), Filobasidiella (MDR1, AAC49890), Yarrowia (YALIOB12188g), Leptosphaeria (AAS92552), Venturia (AAL57243), Trichophyton (AAG01549) and Phaeosphaeria (EAT87032).

Phylip 3.6a (Felsenstein, “PHYLIP (phylogeny inference package). Version 3.2.” Cladistics, 5:164-166, 1989) was subsequently used, after removing the gaps from the initial alignment, to create a phylogram representing the most parsimonious phylogenetic relatedness of Magnaporthe Abc3p with the other MDR sequences from the indicated genera within the eukaryotes. Bootstrap analysis (500 replicates/iterations) was used to generate the phylogenetic tree using the Neighbor-joining algorithm in Phylip 3.6a. Percent bootstrap support values exceeding 50% were considered significant. The MDR hits related to ABC3 protein were identified initially using the B-Link webtool on the NCBI network. See FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a ClustalW diagram (Thompson et al., “CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, positions-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice” Nucl. Acids Res., 22:4673-4680, 1994) and Phylip 3.6a-assisted dendrogram (Felsenstein, “PHYLIP (phylogeny inference package). Version 3.2” Cladistics, 5:164-166, 1989) depicting the most parsimonious phylogenetic relatedness of Magnaporthe ABC3 protein with the MDR proteins from the indicated genera within eukaryotes. Bootstrapping (500 replicates/iterations) was used to generate the phylogenetic tree using the Neighbor-joining algorithm in Phylip 3.6a. Percent bootstrap support for each clade (when >50%) is indicated below the branch. B-Link webtool on the NCBI network was initially used to select 44 MDR hits related to ABC3 protein.

Comparison of the ABC3 protein sequence with related sequences in SWISS-PROT and other protein sequence resources identified several members of the P-glycoprotein family of ABC transporters. See FIG. 3. The phylogenetic relationship was established using these sequences (FIG. 2). Individual sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analyses based on CLUSTAL W (FIG. 1), MEGA (Kumar et al., “MEGA 3: integrated software for molecular evolutionary genetics analysis and sequence alignment” Briefings in Bioinformatics, 5:150-163, 2004) and Phylip 3.6a revealed that ABC3 protein likely defines a separate family of fungal MDR transporters distinct from the Pmd1 or the ATRC family (see FIG. 2, arrowheads). This phylogram also showed that ABC3 protein had diverged significantly from its most related Step 6 protein in Saccharomyces. There was however a paralogous transporter (MG09931.4; 56% similarity) encoded in Magnaporthe.

In the Clustal W-based amino acid sequence alignment of yeast sequences (FIG. 3), neither ABC3 protein nor MG09931.4 showed any significant similarity (average 7% similarity and 4% identity) to the ABC1 (Urban et al., 1999) or ABC3 transporter (Lee et al., 2005) reported in Magnaporthe. ABC3 showed the highest similarity to SNOG_(—)05968 from Phaeosphaeria (62% similarity and 43% identity) and was found to be closely related to AtrC from A. nidulans (34% identity and 53% similarity), the fission yeast Pmd1 (35% identity and 54% similarity; Nishi et al., “A leptomycin B resistance gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe encodes a protein similar to the mammalian P-glycoproteins” Mol. Microbiol. 6:761-769, 1992), and the budding yeast Step 6 (Saccharomyces ceriviseae) (28% identity and 46% similarity; Ketchum et al., “The yeast a-factor transporter Stelop, a member of the ABC superfamily, couples ATP hydrolysis to pheromone expert” J. Biol. Chem., 27: 29007-29001, 2001), whereas ABC1 (M. grisea) showed a higher level of similarity to the ScPdr5 (S. ceriviseae) and CaCDR1 (Candida albicans) transporters from yeasts. See FIG. 3.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA-transfer was performed in M. grisea using hygromycin resistance (encoded by hygromycin phosphotransferase gene HPH) as a selectable marker. Copy number of the integron was identified by Southern blots using standard procedures as described in Sambrook et al., “Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual” Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989. Mutant strains of interest were collected and purified by backcross analysis, progeny testing, random ascospore analysis and by monoconidial isolation. These strategies have been described in detail in the art and were performed as described by Soundararajan et al., “Woronin body function in Magnaporthe grisea is essential for efficient pathogenesis and for survival during nitrogen starvation stress” Plant Cell, 16:1564-1574, 2004.

TMT2807 was obtained in the above screen as a single-copy insertional mutant that produced slightly larger appressoria and showed total loss of pathogenicity towards barley explants. DNA sequences flanking the right and left border of the T-DNA insertion in TMT2807 were amplified using the standard TAIL PCR method (Liu et al., “Efficient isolation and mapping of Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insert junctions by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR” Plant J., 8:457-463, 1995) and subsequently confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. A mutant strain carrying the same disruption of ABC3 as confirmed in TMT2807 was created in a Guy11 background and characterized in parallel.

The mutant strain (TMT2807) of M. grisea (wild-type strain Guy11) was identified by its dramatic and complete inability to infect the barley cultivar Express™ in an Agrobacterium Transfer-DNA based random insertional mutagenesis screen for non-pathogenic mutants of Magnaporthe. See FIGS. 4 and 5, which show barley leaf explants inoculated with conidiospores of TMT2807 or wild type (WT) strain. The leaf tissue was assessed for disease symptoms after 9 days. Further monoconidial and random ascospore-analysis-assisted purification of this strain showed that loss of the pathogenesis ability co-segregated with hygromycin resistance, which was conferred by the single copy integration of the HPH1-containing transfer DNA in this strain.

Standard molecular manipulations were performed according to standard methods. See Sambrook et al., “Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual” Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989. Fungal genomic DNA was extracted with the potassium acetate method as described by Naqvi et al., “Identification of RAPD markers linked to a major gene for blast resistance in rice” Mol. Breed., 1:341-348, 1995. Plasmid DNA was isolated using Qiagen™ plasmid preparation kits. Nucleotide sequencing was performed using the ABI Prism big dye terminator method. Homology searches of DNA/protein sequences were performed using the BLAST™ program according to the methods described by Altschul et al., “Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: A new generation of protein database search programs” Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389-3402, 1997. GeneWise™-based predictions were made using the public domain database of the European Bioinformatics Institute. Total RNA was isolated with the RNeasy™ Plant Mini kit (Qiagen™) and cDNA synthesis and subsequent PCR amplification was conducted using Reverse Transcriptase, AMV (Roche Diagnostics™, and Taq DNA Polymerase (Roche™).

Thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL) PCR-based sequence analysis (Liu et al., “Efficient isolation and mapping of Arabidopsis thaliana T-DNA insert junctions by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR” Plant J. 8:457-463, 1995) revealed that the T-DNA insertion in TMT2807 had disrupted the genomic region corresponding to Contig 67 on Supercontig 5.117 (Magnaporthe Genome Database, Release 5, Broad Institute, USA). Further subcloning and sequence analysis showed that the T-DNA insertion in TMT2807 disrupted a region just proximal (231 bp upstream) to exon1 of open reading frame MGG_(—)13762.5 (FIG. 6) and led to a total loss of transcription of this ORF. Analysis of a BAC clone 22C21 (identified by using the T-DNA insertion flanks from TMT2807 as probes) revealed the presence of the ORF mentioned above as a 6.3 kilo-basepair (kb) HindIII fragment. See FIG. 6. This gene was designated abc3 because its predicted product showed high degree of sequence similarity to the ATP-binding cassettes (ABC) encoded by the genes belonging to the ABC transporter superfamily.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the annotated abc3 locus spanning a HindIII-PvuII fragment from Contig 67 on Supercontig 5.117 in M. grisea. Solid bars and short open boxes indicate the coding regions and introns respectively and are drawn to scale. RB and LB represent the right and left border sequences of T-DNA (open box) integrated in the mutant strain. Opposing arrows demarcate the genomic region deleted in the abc3Δ strain, that was created using flanking homology (dashed lines) based gene replacement with the hygromycin-resistance cassette (HPH1). Restriction enzyme sites HindIII (H) and PvuII (P) have been depicted. The scale bar corresponds to 1 kb and also denotes the probe used for Southern analysis shown in FIG. 7.

Genomic DNA from wild-type (WT), abc3Δ, Complemented strain (Comp; abc3Δ carrying an ectopic single-copy integration of the HindIII fragment described above) and TMT2807 strain was digested with HindIII and probed with the 1 kb ABC3 fragment or the HPH1-specific fragment. See FIG. 7. The appearance of the 3.2 kb band in the abc3Δ strain, with the concomitant loss of the wild-type 6.3 kb ABC3 locus, was diagnostic of the correct gene replacement event. Ectopic integration of the rescue construct in the complemented strain resulted in the retention of the 3.2 kb fragment and the restoration of the 6.3 kb band. The presence of a 0.6 kb fragment in the TMT2807 strain was due to an internal HindIII site at the right-border end of the integrated T-DNA in TMT2807. This integron also accounts for the ˜7 kb fragment (the abc3 gene disrupted with the HPH1 T-DNA cassette) detected in this mutant. A DNA gel blot with HPH1 as the probe further confirmed the identity of the fragments. Molecular size markers in kilo-basepair are indicated. See FIG. 7.

A full-length abc3 cDNA was obtained by 3′ and 5′ rapid amplification of the cDNA ends (RACE). The abc3 locus spanned nucleotides 124832 to 131097 on Supercontig 177. The abc3 cDNA sequence was confirmed by obtaining and sequencing several RT-PCR fragments representing the overall abc3 coding sequence. In each instance, DNA sequence analysis was carried out on both strands of at least 2 individual clones. Subsequent analysis revealed the existence of 13 exons in the abc3 open reading frame as opposed to the autocall-predicted eleven exons in MGG_(—)13762.5. In addition, 3 nucleotide changes were uncovered in exon 3 of MGG_(—)13762.5. Typical regulatory elements related to fungal promoter regions preceded the abc3 open reading frame. Based on the cDNA sequence, the abc3 gene was predicted to encode a 1321 amino-acid protein (ABC3) composed of two homologous halves, each with six membrane-spanning segments (ABC transmembrane domain) and an ABC ATPase motif. ABC3 protein thus showed an overall structure and domain organization typical of the Cluster II.2 (or TC#3.A.1.201) type P-glycoprotein MDR transporters (Decottignies and Goffeau, “Complete inventory of the yeast ABC proteins” Nat. Genet., 15:137-145, 1997; Saier and Paulsen, “Phylogeny of multidrug transporters” Semin. Cell Dev. Biol., 12:205-213, 2001).

The complete nucleotide sequence and annotation details for abc3 have been deposited in GenBank under accession number DQ156556 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The sequence of an abc3 coding region is provided as SEQ ID NO:1 (FIG. 8) and an ABC3 protein as SEQ ID NO:2 (FIG. 9). See Table I, below, for the final annotation of the protein, based on the abc3 Rescue HinDIII fragment and cDNA. Nucleic acids which encode the protein of SEQ ID NO:2 also form part of the present invention, as well as any nucleic acid which encodes a protein having substantially the same activity of SEQ ID NO:2. An ABC3 protein includes any protein which is native to a Magnaporthe species, is at least 95% homologous to SEQ ID NO:2, and which, if not present or not active, results in loss or substantial reduction (>90%) of appressorial function and plant pathogenicity. An abc3 gene a used herein is a nucleic acid that encodes an ABC3 protein.

TABLE I Final Annotation of ABC3. From To Length (bp) Exon 1 1040 1120 81 Intron 1 1121 1173 53 Exon 2 1174 1422 249 Intron 2 1423 1469 47 Exon 3 1470 1974 505 Intron 3 1975 2022 48 Exon 4 2023 2119 97 Intron 4 2120 2166 47 Exon 5 2167 2530 364 Intron 5 2530 2575 45 Exon 6 2576 2830 255 Intron 6 2831 2882 52 Exon 7 2883 3612 730 Intron 7 3613 3662 50 Exon 8 3663 4365 703 Intron 8 4366 4415 50 Exon 9 4416 4465 50 Intron 9 4466 4514 49 Exon 10 4515 4540 26 Intron 10 4541 4591 51 Exon 11 4592 4631 40 Intron 11 4632 4682 51 Exon 12 4683 5521 839 Intron 12 5522 5577 56 Exon 13 5578 5603 27

Example 2 Deletion of the ABC3 Open Reading Frame

One-step PCR-based gene deletion (using the Ura4+ marker) was performed according to the methods of Bahler et al., “Heterologous modules for efficient and versatile PCR-based gene targeting in Schizosaccharomyces pombe” Yeast 14:943-951, 1998, using 80 bp flanking sequence homology. Deletion of the pmd1 open reading frame was carried out in the YNB38 strain. Stable transformants from EMM minus Uracil medium were tested by colony PCR. The M. grisea abc3 locus was obtained as a 6.3 Kb HinDIII fragment from BAC 22C21 and cloned into the unique HinDIII site in pJK148 to obtain pFGLr1, carrying the Leu1+ marker. Vector pFGLr1 was linearized with EcoRI and transformed by electroporation into the S. pombe pmd1 deletion strain described above. Stable integration of FGLr1 was confirmed by PCR analysis and copy number ascertained by Southern blot analysis.

Using plasmid vector pFGLabcKO in a one-step gene replacement technique, an abc3 deletion mutant (hereafter referred as abc3Δ) was created by replacing the entire 4.61 kb coding region of the abc3 locus with the HPH1 cassette encoding the hygromycin phosphotransferase function. Hygromycin-resistant transformants (HPH1⁺) derived from the wild type Guy11 strain, carrying single-copy insertion of the replacement cassette, were identified and the desired gene replacement event (abc3::HPH1) confirmed by Southern blotting (FIG. 7). For complementation analysis, a full-length genomic copy of abc3 (FIG. 6; 6.3 kb HindIII fragment) was introduced into the abc3Δ strain as a single ectopic integron. At least two independent strains from each background were examined to assess all the vegetative, reproductive and pathogenesis related defects reported here.

Example 3 Phenotypic Characterization of abc3Δ Strains

pFGLr2 (carrying the full-length abc3 gene) or pBarKS (control) was introduced into the abc3Δ strain and the TMT2807 mutant. About 20 bialaphos-resistant transformants were screened by DNA gel blot analysis in each instance. Two strains that carried single-copy integration of the abc3 gene at an ectopic site in each background (TMT2807 and abc3Δ) were used for further tests.

For abc3 gene deletion and rescue of the abc3Δ mutant, DNA fragments about 1.1 kb each, representing the 5′ and 3′ UTR of abc3 gene, were obtained by PCR. The fragments were ligated sequentially so as to flank the hph cassette in pFGL44 to obtain plasmid vector pFGLabcKO. pFGLabcKO was transformed into M. grisea for replacement of the abc3 gene. The complete M. grisea abc3 locus was obtained as a 6.2 Kb HinDIII fragment from the BAC 22C21 and cloned into the HinDIII site of pFGL97 to obtain pFGLr2 with resistance to bialaphos or ammonium gluphosinate as a fungal selectable marker for the rescue transformation. Southern blot analyses were performed to confirm successful gene deletion strains and single-copy genomic integration of the abc3 rescuing cassette.

Wild-type, abc3Δ mutant and an abc3Δ strain complemented with full length ABC3 (Comp) (mycelial plugs or conidial suspension) were grown on complete agar medium for a week and photographed. See FIG. 10. The growth characteristics are representative of three independent assessments (total n=27 colonies per strain; P<0.05). When inoculated as mycelial plugs or as a conidial suspension on solidified complete medium (CM), the abc3Δ mutant grew slower (˜30% reduction in colony size, P<0.05) than the wild type Guy11 (FIG. 10), although no apparent difference in conidiogenesis or the overall colony morphology was uncovered. Quantitation of data from the material in FIG. 10 is provided graphically in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show growth characteristics and mating in abc3Δ mutant, photographically and quantitatively. Perithecia development by the indicated Magnaporthe strains in individual sexual crosses with the tester strain of the opposite mating type, were assessed 3 weeks post inoculation. Mean values (±SD) represent the number of perithecial beaks observed per mating mix on oatmeal agar medium. Quantitations represent three independent experiments covering a total of 30 crosses per strain. WT refers to the cross between Guy11 (mat1-2) and TH3 (mat1-1). When crossed to TH3 (mat1-1), the abc3Δ (mat1-2) mutant showed a slight reduction in its sexual reproduction, displaying a decrease in the total number of perithecia produced per sexual cross. See FIG. 11.

There were no significant difference in conidiation of these moderately stunted abc3Δ mutant colonies as compared to Guy11. Conidia germination and appressoria formation were not observably different from wild type in the abc3Δ strain. Such defects were not mating-type specific as judged by analyzing the sexual crosses between an abc3Δ (mat1-1) and wild type Guy11 (mat1-2) (FIG. 11) and could be attributed to reduced female fertility in the Magnaporthe strains used (Valent et al., “Magnaporthe grisea genes for pathogenicity and virulence identified through a series of backcrosses” Genetics, 127:87-101, 1991). The complemented abc3Δ strain behaved like the wild type in the ability to form perithecia. This suggested a divergence of function for ABC3 protein compared to the related Step 6 protein, which is required specifically for the efflux of only the a-factor pheromone in Saccharomyces. These results indicated that in Magnaporthe, the ABC3 function is required for proper vegetative growth of the mycelia, but is dispensable for sexual reproduction.

The germination efficiency and growth of the abc3Δ conidia were assessed. Conidia produced by the abc3Δ strain were normal in quantity, morphology and germination compared to wild type conidia. See FIG. 12. FIG. 13 shows that upon germination, the abc3Δ conidia produced appressoria (average diameter 11.2±0.7 μm; n=3000; P<0.05) that were marginally larger than those of the wild type strain (10.4±0.6 μm; n=3000; P<0.05).

Example 4 The Role of ABC3 in Magnaporthe Pathogenesis

To assess the role of ABC3 protein during host-associated growth and development, infection assays were performed on the seedlings of rice cultivars C039 or NIL127 and barley cultivar Express™, testing the pathogenicity of abc3Δ conidia. Blast infection assays on host tissue were conducted as follows. Rice seedlings belonging to CO39 (compatible) or NIL127 (incompatible) genotypes were spray-inoculated with conidial suspensions (in 0.02% gelatin in water) from wild-type, abc3Δ or abc3Δ mutant strains complemented by the introduction of ABC3 (COMP). Disease symptoms were assessed after 10 days.

The abc3Δ mutant (like the TMT2807 strain), displayed a total loss of pathogenicity and failed to elicit any visible blast symptoms/lesions on the compatible (CO39) or incompatible (NIL127) rice varieties, when compared with equivalent spray-inoculations of the wild type Guy11 conidia or the conidia from the Complemented strain. See FIG. 14. Under the same conditions, the wild type and the Complemented strain (COMP) caused typical spindle-like, gray centered and severe blast lesions that merged into one another on the inoculated rice leaves (FIG. 14).

Twenty bialaphos-resistant abc3Δ strain and TMT2807 mutant transformants were produced. The transformants contained pFGLr2 (carrying the full-length ABC3 gene) or pBarKS (control) then were screened by DNA gel blot analysis. Two strains that carried single-copy integration of the abc3 gene at an ectopic site in each background (TMT2807 and abc3Δ) were used to analyze the suppression of the various phenotypic defects observed in the abc3Δ mutant. The mild reduction in vegetative growth and mating efficiency observed in the abc3Δ strain (and in TMT2807) was completely suppressed upon introduction of the wild type ABC3 gene. See FIG. 14, COMP].

Introduction of the ABC3 gene also restored the strain's ability to penetrate the host and cause blast disease. See FIG. 14, COMP. This complemented (COMP) strain was found to be as virulent as the wild type isolate, when spray-inoculated on rice seedlings. In contrast, the vector control could not suppress these abnormalities (data not shown). Since all the defects in the abc3Δ mutant (and TMT2807) could be completely restored by reintroduction of the wild type ABC3 allele, we conclude that the phenotypic changes and functional abnormalities observed in the abc3Δ strain resulted solely from the disruption of ABC3 function.

The host-defense associated Hypersensitive Reaction (HR) was quantitated in the challenged seedlings based on real time RT-PCR methodology to derive the ratio of rice Pr-1 to Actin gene expression as described by Gilbert et al., “A P-type ATPase required for rice blast disease and induction of host resistance” Nature, 440:535-539, 2006. The values given in FIG. 14 are hypersensitive-reaction (HR) assessed after 48 hours and represent the ratio of rice Pr-1 gene expression to that of the Actin transcript. As shown in FIG. 14, the abc3Δ mutant failed to elicit proper HR during a compatible or incompatible interaction with the host.

Barley-leaf explants challenged with wild type or abc3Δ mutant for 72 hours, were co-stained with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine and Trypan blue in order to visualize the hypersensitivity reaction symptoms in the challenged tissue. Wild type strain caused massive damage and cell death and accumulation of reactive oxygen intermediates in the host leaves, whereas the abc3Δ mutant failed to elicit any visible hypersensitivity reaction symptoms in the host and was devoid of such cell death and accumulation of reactive oxygen species, except in rare instances (<1%). See FIG. 15 (the arrowhead indicates a rare hypersensitivity reaction event in the host upon challenge with the mutant).

In order to further confirm the failure to elicit hypersensitivity reaction, induction of Pathogenesis-related protein 5 (Pr-5, Genbank Accession HVU276225) in barley leaves challenged for 48 hours was tested. The ratio of Pr-5 expression to that of a gene with a house-keeping function (Actin10-4, Genbank accession HVU21907) was used to estimate the level of hypersensitivity reaction induction. In mock inoculations and in barley leaves challenged with the abc3Δ mutant, this ratio (Pr-5/HvAct10) averaged 1.4±0.3 over three replicates (P<0.05), whereas the ratio was consistently higher and averaged 2.6±0.5 (P<0.005) when estimated in plants infected by the wild type strain. The abc3Δ mutant could still be recovered as viable colony forming units from the challenged leaves but only up to 30 hours post inoculation. The above plant infection data indicates that ABC3 protein is required for Magnaporthe pathogenicity. Upon loss of ABC3 function, the blast fungus is incapable of establishing disease and eventually fails to survive inside the host.

Since concentrated suspensions of abc3Δ conidia failed to elicit any host lesions after surface inoculation, these conidia were subjected to two additional tests: (1) inoculation on abraded host leaves and (2) direct injection of conidia into the leaf nodes or rice leaf sheaths. Equal numbers of conidia from the wild-type or abc3Δ mutant were inoculated either on abraded barley leaves (FIG. 16, upper panels) or injected at the base of barley leaves (FIG. 16, central panels) or the base of rice-leaf sheaths (FIG. 16, bottom panels). Host damage and disease lesion formation were subsequently assessed after 10 days. Hypersensitivity reaction was assessed after 48 hours as described above. Mock refers to the same inoculation treatments but using a 0.02% gelatin solution devoid of conidiospores.

These assays showed that abc3Δ mutant is incapable of causing disease-related host damage even when forcibly introduced through wounded tissue or injected directly into the host plants (FIG. 15). Appropriate positive and negative controls were included and are shown alongside in these assays. Even under conditions that bypass the requirement of appressorium function, the abc3Δ mutant failed to elicit proper hypersensitivity reaction as determined by the ratio of Pr-1/Actin gene expression (FIG. 15).

Example 5 Appressorium Function and Host Penetration Defects in the abc3Δ Strain

Equivalent numbers of conidia from the wild type or abc3Δ mutant were inoculated onto synthetic membranes (PUDO-193 cellophane) and assessed for germination, appressoria formation, surface penetration and invasive growth. The mutant appressoria were functional on PUDO-193 cellophane (clergeot et al., “PLS1, a gene encoding a tetraspanin-like protein, is required for penetration of rice leaf by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisel,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98:6963-6968, 2001) and penetrated it (FIG. 17 lower panels, see arrowheads) albeit with a much lower efficiency (39±2.5% compared to 58±2.1%; P<0.005) than the wild type appressoria. Invasive growth within the cellophane appeared to be compromised in the abc3Δ strain. Taken together, these data indicate that the abc3Δ mutant is incapable of eliciting proper hypersensitivity reaction or causing blast disease in the host plants, but although inefficiently, is still capable of breaching and invading cellophane membranes.

To address the question whether the ability to breach the artificial membranes, but not the host tissue, was due to a decrease in appressorial turgor in the abc3Δ strain, cytorrhysis assays were performed according to published methods to estimate the appressorial turgor through the incipient. See Howard et al., “Penetration of hard substrates by a fungus employing enormous turgor pressures.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88:11281-11284 1991; de Jong et al., “Glycerol generates turgor in rice blast.” Nature, 389:244-245 1997). Briefly, the appressoria were allowed to form for 45 hours on GelBond™ membrane prior to the addition of the indicated concentration of external glycerol. These appressorial collapse assays revealed that compared to the wild-type, the abc3Δ mutant displayed a slightly lower appressorial turgor which was not statistically significant. See Table II, below. This reduction in turgor in the mutant appressoria was particularly evident when the external glycerol addition was in the 3.5 to 4.5 molar range. At lower molar concentrations (1-3 M), the internal turgor levels were inferred to be equivalent to those estimated in the wild type appressoria. As judged by light microscopy and by thin-section transmission electron microscopy, melanin deposition appeared similar to wild type in the abc3Δ appressoria.

TABLE II Appressorial cytorrhysis assay in wild-type Guy11 and the abc3Δ mutant. External Glycerol (Molar Guy11 abc3Δ concentration) % cytorrhysis* % cytorrhysis* 1.0  5.0 ± 1.1  6.2 ± 1.5 2.0  8.2 ± 0.9 10.0 ± 1.7 3.0 32.0 ± 0.8 33.0 ± 1.0 3.5 63.0 ± 1.1 68.1 ± 1.4 4.0 81.5 ± 1.7 85.1 ± 1.2 4.5 85.0 ± 0.8 89.2 ± 1.1 *Refers to the mean (±SD) of three independent estimations each involving 10³ appressoria (P < 0.05).

The TMT2807 and the abc3Δ strain had been isolated as totally nonpathogenic mutants incapable of causing blast disease or host damage. Therefore, detailed microscopic analyses of the infection cycle was performed to determine which stage of the pathogenesis process was compromised in the abc3Δ strain. Equal numbers of conidia from the wild type strain or the abc3Δ mutant were inoculated on barley-leaf explants, onion epidermal strips or rice-leaf sheaths and allowed to proceed through infection-related development for the indicated time. The appressoria were assessed for appressorium formation at 24 hours and appressorium function (host penetration and invasion, as judged by aniline blue staining of resultant callose deposits) at 48 hours. The resulting data are shown in FIG. 18 (onion epidermal strips) and FIG. 19 (barley leaf explants), and are quantitated in FIG. 20 (wild type, shaded; abc3Δ mutant, black). The papillary callose deposits (FIG. 19, arrowhead; see FIG. 20 for quantitation) and infection hyphae (FIG. 19, asterisk) were visualized after staining the barley-leaf explants with aniline blue at 48 hours (FIG. 19, top panels) or 72 hours (FIG. 19, lower panels) post inoculation. The inset in FIG. 19 shows a rare papillary callose deposit (arrowhead) produced by the abc3Δ appressoria. Values in FIG. 20 are the mean±SD from three replicates of the experiment each involving 10³ conidia.

A striking difference was that compared to the wild type organism, only a negligible percentage of abc3Δ appressoria (0.7±0.9%; n=3000, over three replicates) were able to produce penetration pegs as judged by aniline blue staining for papillary callose deposits and infection hyphae formation. See FIGS. 18, 19 and 20 (48 hours). In the wild type strain, the ability to form penetration pegs on barley leaves was about 83% (±2.9; n=3000) at the equivalent 48-hour time-point. Even upon extended incubation, host surface penetration failed to increase. See FIG. 18 (72 hours). Even after 96 hours post inoculation, a vast majority of the abc3Δ appressoria (−99%) still failed to enter the host and to elicit callose deposition. In contrast, wild type infectious hyphae within the host were already in their ramifying and proliferating stage in planta.

To further validate these findings, thin-section transmission electron microscopy ultrastructural analysis was performed. Barley leaves were challenged with conidia from the wild type or the abc3Δ mutant and processed for thin-section transmission electron microscopy at the indicated time points post inoculation. Near-median transmission electron microscopy sections were selected for assessment and are represented in FIG. 21. In each panel of FIG. 21, hcw indicates the host cell wall. Arrowheads indicate the non-functional penetration pegs elaborated by abc3Δ appressoria. Callose deposits are marked by an asterisk. This analysis confirmed that the majority of the abc3Δ appressoria failed to penetrate the host surface and did not elicit any visible reaction from the plant. See FIG. 21, abc3Δ, 48 hours. Futile attempts at penetration were noticeable in only two appressoria out of 142 appressoria sectioned in the abc3Δ mutant. See FIG. 21, abc3Δ, 72 hours. In each instance, dense papillary callose deposits obstructing the site of failed entry were clearly visible. On the other hand, the transmission electron microscopy sections for wild type appressoria showed successful penetration and elaboration of typical fungal infectious hyphae in the host tissue.

Conidia from the wild type or the abc3Δ mutant were inoculated on Barley-leaf explants, onion epidermal strips or rice-leaf sheaths and processed for aniline blue staining after 72 hours. See FIG. 22. Arrowheads indicate the infection hyphae within the leaf sheath tissue. Data for the infection hyphae from three independent experiments in each instance are graphically represented in FIG. 23, where values (±SD) are indicated as percentage points. These results lead to the conclusion that a defect in appressorium-mediated host penetration leads to the inability of mutants lacking the ABC3 function to produce pathogenicity. Taken together, these data indicate that Abc3p plays an extremely important role in the host penetration step of disease establishment and probably also is required for the in planta spreading of the blast fungus.

In addition, abc3Δ organisms were incapable of surviving the host environment, since viable abc3Δ cultures could not be recovered from the penetration assays or the wounding assays beyond 30 hours post inoculation. Conidia from the wild type (FIG. 24, shaded bars) or the abc3Δ (FIG. 24, black bars) strains were inoculated on barley-leaves (host) either by surface inoculation or the injection method or cellophane membrane and allowed to undergo pathogenic development. Cell viability was quantified at the time-points indicated in FIG. 24 by staining with Phloxine B. Values represent the mean±SD from three experiments. Quantitative cell-viability assays using Phloxine B (which accumulates in dead cells) showed that the abc3Δ mutant was incapable of surviving the environment encountered within the host irrespective of the mode of entry (surface inoculation or injection). See FIG. 24.

Appressorial assays on cellophane revealed that viability and invasive growth is significantly compromised in the mutant (FIG. 24, 48 hours; P<0.05). Moreover, adding barley-leaf extract during the appressorial assays on cellophane caused a further and marked reduction in the viability of the mutant therein. See FIG. 24 (48 h+Extr).

For preparing barley-leaf extracts, fresh samples from 21-day-old seedlings were surface-sterilized and ground to a fine powder using liquid nitrogen in a mortar and stirred in cold, sterilized distilled water. Ten milliliters of water per gram of leaf material was added to the sample. The mixture was kept in a refrigerator for 2 hours and then stirred on a rotary shaker for 1 hour and centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 15 minutes. The supernatant was collected and stored in a refrigerator until it was used as a crude water-soluble extract.

The wild type strain remained largely unperturbed under these conditions, therefore it is likely that the ABC3 protein plays a critical role during early stages of disease establishment and is most likely required for the in planta viability and survival of the blast fungus. A parallel experiment included viability counts during appressorium development and penetration of cellophane in the presence of water-soluble extracts from barley leaves for 48 hours (Extr).

Example 6 ABC3 Protein P-Glycoprotein and Multidrug Resistance

Earlier studies have documented the role of P-glycoproteins in the efflux of a diverse range of compounds such as steroid hormones (Uhr et al., “Penetration of endogenous steroid hormones corticosterone, cortisol, aldosterone and progesterone into the brain is enhanced in mice deficient for both mdr1a and mdr1b P-glycoproteins” J. Neuroendocrinol. 14:753-759, 2002), mating pheromone (Ketchum et al., “The yeast a-factor transporter Step 6p, a member of the ABC superfamily, couples ATP hydrolysis to pheromone export” J. Biol. Chem. 276:29007-29011, 2001), drugs and antibiotics (Nishi et al., “A leptomycin B resistance gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe encodes a protein similar to the mammalian P-glycoproteins” Mol. Microbiol. 6(6):761-769, 1992), and extrusion of ions or solutes (Kimura et al., “Effects of P-glycoprotein inhibitors on transepithelial transport of cadmium in cultured renal epithelial cells, LLC-PK1 and LLC-GA5-COL150” Toxicology, 208:123-132, 2005). To test whether ABC3 protein serves similar extrusion function(s), the drug sensitivity of the abc3Δ strain and wild type Guy11 were investigated with respect to the effect of metabolic poisons, antifungal agents, and antibiotics.

Drug sensitivity of cells was assayed by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of that compound required for inhibiting mycelial growth in wild type Guy11. The compounds used in the drug sensitivity assays were as follows, Valinomycin, Verapamil, Benomyl, Gramicidin D, Brefeldin A, Leptomycin B, Actinomycin D, Fluconazole and Itraconazole. For the assay, the cells were cultured on agar medium plates containing the specified concentration of each drug at 28° C. for 2-8 days. For tests on conidial function during pathogenic phase, the specified amounts of the compounds in the appropriate solvent were added directly to the aqueous suspension of conidia. The sensitivity to each indicated compound (drug sensitivity) is shown in Table III, below. Among the drugs tested, the abc3Δ strain showed increased sensitivity to Valinomycin and Actinomycin D. Multidrug resistance correlated with the function of an ABC or P-glycoprotein transporter since it could be reversed by the presence of Verapamil in Guy11. The MIC assays did not show any difference in the sensitivity of Guy11 and abc3Δ mutant for the other compounds tested such as Brefeldin A, Gramicidin D, Leptomycin B, Benomyl and some azole fungicides.

TABLE III Drug Sensitivity* of Wild-type Strain Guy11 and abc3Δ Mutant. Compound Guy11 abc3Δ Valinomycin 20 μg/ml 3 μg/ml Valinomycin + Verapamil 10 μg/ml 3 μg/ml Actinomycin D 15 μg/ml 3.5 μg/ml Actinomycin D + Verapamil 8 μg/ml 3.5 μg/ml Benomyl 2 μg/ml 2 μg/ml Brefeldin A 40 μg/ml 40 μg/ml Gramicidin D 180 μg/ml 180 μg/ml Leptomycin B 7.5 ng/ml 7.5 ng/ml Fluconazole 2.5 mg/ml 2.5 mg/ml Itraconazole 2 mg/ml 2 mg/ml *The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) that is sufficient to inhibit growth of Magnaporthe vegetative mycelia on agar medium.

Having confirmed an important efflux-related role of ABC3 protein during the mycelial growth phase of Magnaporthe, further tests were performed to assess whether ABC3 protein is required during the pathogenic phase for a similar MDR function. Equivalent serial dilutions of wild type or abc3Δ conidial suspensions were cultured in the presence (20 mg/ml) or absence (0 mg/ml) of Valinomycin on complete growth medium (FIG. 25) for 5 days or on artificial inductive membranes (FIG. 26) for 36 hours. Addition of potassium (KCl at 100 mM) failed to reverse the defects associated with Valinomycin action on Magnaporthe condiospores and appressoria.

As shown in FIG. 25, the germ tube growth from abc3Δ conidia was inhibited upon Valinomycin treatment, whereas the germ tube growth in Guy11 could withstand elevated concentration of Valinomycin (20 mg/ml). On proper inductive surfaces, the wild type conidia germinated and formed appressoria in the presence of Valinomycin, albeit at a lower frequency (61±2% versus 93±5% for untreated wild type samples). See FIG. 26. The appressoria formed under these conditions were also substantially smaller in size. In contrast, the same concentration of Valinomycin had a very severe and dramatic effect on the conidia of the abc3Δ mutant: a complete blockage of conidial germ tube emergence. See FIG. 26.

Daniele and Holian, “A potassium ionophore (valinomycin) inhibits lymphocyte proliferation by its effects on the cell membrane” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 73:3599-3602, 1976 have proposed that valinomycin also can affect the homeostasis of potassium ions across biological membranes. However, exogenous addition of potassium chloride did not suppress the effect of Valinomycin on either wild type or abc3Δ conidia and appressoria. Therefore, it is likely that the ABC3 protein serves an essential multidrug-resistance function both during the vegetative and the pathogenic phase of the rice-blast fungus and that such MDR activity is most likely towards compounds structurally or functionally similar to valinomycin.

Fission yeast strains belonging to the relevant genotypes (as specified in FIG. 27) were cultured on YES medium in the absence or presence of the indicated amounts of Valinomycin. Results were documented 5 days post inoculation. Strain D+vector refers to the pmd1D mutant carrying an empty plasmid vector, whereas D+ABC3⁺ denotes the pmd1D mutant expressing an integrated copy of the ABC3 gene. Thus, ABC3 protein also could functionally replace its ortholog Pmd1p from fission yeast signifying the evolutionary conservation and importance of such multidrug resistance phenomenon.

Example 7 ABC3 Protein and Sensitivity to Cellular Stress

High potassium levels could not reverse the effect of Valinomycin. The ABC3 protein may function through some as yet unknown mechanism to modulate its MDR activity towards such antifungal compounds. To test whether ABC3 is required for modulating osmotic, oxidative and related cellular stress conditions, further studies were performed. Mycelial plugs (FIG. 28) or equivalent serial dilutions of conidiospore suspensions (FIG. 29) from abc3Δ or wild type strains were cultured on minimal agar medium containing the indicated amounts of hydrogen peroxide. The results were documented after an incubation period of one week.

Compared to the wild type strain, abc3Δ mutant did not show any difference in its mycelial growth in the presence of high concentrations of osmolytes such as sorbitol, sucrose or sodium chloride. In contrast, the abc3Δ mutant was found to be highly sensitive to oxidative stress. Even relatively low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (2 mM) were lethal to the mutant strain (FIG. 28), whereas the wild type Guy11 strain was unaffected under these adverse growth conditions (FIG. 28). The abc3Δ mutant also showed similar sensitivity to paraquat and menadione, which stimulate accumulation of reactive oxygen species/intermediates. The sensitivity of abc3Δ mutant to such oxidative stress was common to the vegetative as well as the pathogenic growth phase (FIG. 29).

FIG. 30 shows nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT)-assisted visualization of the accumulation of reactive oxygen radicals in wild type and abc3Δ colonies. Three-(top panels) or six-(lower panels) day-old wild type or abc3Δ colonies were stained with NBT solution to detect peroxide accumulation. The mutant hyphae accumulated relatively higher amounts of peroxide and likely a higher amount of reactive oxygen species. In FIG. 30, the dark centers in the wild type colonies are due to the enhanced contrast of the image.

Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was visualized with diaminobenzidine (DAB) in wild type and in abc3Δ mutant appressoria formed on artificial membranes. Wild type and abc3Δ appressoria formed on artificial membranes (upper panels) or on barley leaf explants (lower panels) were stained with diaminobenzidine to detect the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (arrowheads). Arrows indicate the excess diaminobenzidine-reactive deposits within the appressorial lumen. See FIG. 31, upper panels. This showed that the mutant accumulates a relatively higher amount of peroxide levels, which likely would lead to a higher amount of reactive oxygen species. Increased accumulation of peroxides/DAB-positive material also was detected in the abc3Δ mutant appressoria on artificial membranes and barley-leaf explants (FIG. 31, lower panels).

Fluorimetric evaluation of hydrogen peroxide levels in wild type and abc3Δ strains on barley leaves, after staining with the dye CM-DCFDA (chloromethyl-2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate, Molecular Probes, USA), revealed that the mutant appressoria accrue 3.5 fold higher amounts of ROS/peroxide than those estimated in the wild-type (FIG. 32). Total extracts from wild type or abc3Δ appressoria were treated with CM-DCFDA and processed for fluorimetric estimations. Values in the graph represent fold change (mean±SD; from three independent experiments) in the CM-DCFDA-reactive material from mutant appressorial extracts compared to those in the wild type. Average value for the CM-DCFDA estimates in the wild type extracts was set at one. An earlier study has shown that oxidative stress (accumulation of DAB-positive material) precedes the elicitation of cell death in the interacting epidermal cells and the underlying mesophyll cells in Brachypodium infected with Magnaporthe (Routledge et al., “Magnaporthe grisea interactions with the model grass Brachypodium distachyon closely resemble those with rice (Oryza sativa)” Mol. Plant Path., 5:253-265, 2005). These results indicate that ABC3 protein protects the blast fungus from oxidative damage in the mycelial growth phase and also during the host-associated stage of pathogenic development and proliferation.

Example 8 Partial Suppression of abc3Δ Defects, and Effect of Verapamil and Oxidative Stress

To understand whether the pathogenicity defects in abc3Δ are in any way related to the excess build-up of H₂O₂ therein, attempts were made to reduce the levels of peroxide oxidants during appressorium development by using several agents such as, Diphenyleneiodonium (DPI; 15 mm), nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA, 10 mm), 5 mm Rotenone (Chiarugi et al., 2003) or antioxidants (Ascorbate or N-acetylcysteine).

Antioxidant treatment partially restored appressorium function in abc3Δ wild type (FIG. 33, shaded bars) or abc3Δ (FIG. 33, black bars). The conidia were tested for appressorium formation and function (host penetration) on barley-leaf explants in the presence of DPI, ascorbate or N-acetylcysteine. This test also was carried out in the presence of Verapamil (Verapam), a generic inhibitor of MDR-based efflux functions. The treatments were carried out for 48 hours in each instance and host penetration was assessed by aniline blue staining. The addition of Diphenyleneiodonium suppressed the host penetration defects associated with the abc3Δ appressoria in 5.1±1.1% appressoria (n=3000). See FIG. 33. Antioxidant treatment with either ascorbate or N-acetylcysteine restored penetration function in 23±2.5% and 19±1.6% appressoria, respectively (n=3000, P<0.005), as judged by papillary callose deposition. See FIG. 33. However, the resultant mutant penetration pegs still failed to elaborate proper infection hyphae and were unable to advance the invasion further. The reduction of the intracellular peroxide levels (or oxidative stress) in abc3Δ therefore leads to a significant suppression of the appressorial defects in this mutant.

In a converse experiment, the effect of exogenous hydrogen peroxide, menadione or paraquat on the ability of the wild type appressoria to penetrate the host surfaces was tested. Conidia from the wild-type (FIG. 34, shaded bars) or the abc3Δ strain (FIG. 34, black bars) were inoculated on barley-leaf explants in the presence of either hydrogen peroxide or paraquat or Menadione and the resultant appressorium formation and function (host penetration) assessed after 48 hours as described above. Values represent mean±SD from three independent experiments each involving 2000 conidia per strain.

As expected, in the absence of exogenous peroxide, the wild type appressoria behaved normally and were able to successfully penetrate the host surface as judged by papillary callose deposits upon aniline blue staining. The percentage of appressoria that elaborated penetration pegs was 68±2.3% (n=3000, over 3 replicates), after the 48-hour time point. See FIG. 34. Addition of 3 mM peroxide to the wild type conidia caused a significant decrease in host penetration with only 36±2.8% appressoria (n=3000, over 3 replicates) able to breach the host surface. See FIG. 34. Addition of paraquat or Menadione had a slightly reduced effect on host penetration of the wild type strain, as compared to treatment with peroxide. See FIG. 34. Such oxidative stress caused a significant reduction in the efficiency of appressorium formation and peroxide levels exceeding 5 mM blocked germ tube emergence in the wild type conidia.

Downregulation of MDR activity by Verapamil during pathogenic development produced a significant decrease (maximal 74%) in penetration peg formation, but without affecting the germ tube emergence or growth. These results suggest that excessive peroxide levels have an adverse effect on the host-penetration capacity of Magnaporthe, and that reducing the intracellular levels of peroxide (or oxidative stress) in abc3Δ significantly suppresses the appressorial defects observed in this mutant. Taken together, it is clear that ABC3 protein performs an important MDR function during the pathogenic phase and possibly protects the blast fungus from peroxide-based internal oxidative stress during vegetative growth and pathogenic development.

Example 9 Subcellular Localization of GFP-Tagged ABC3 Protein

The predicted secondary structure of ABC3 protein suggests that it is an integral membrane protein. In order to determine the distribution pattern of ABC3-protein within the various cell types of Magnaporthe, the abc3-GFP fusion construct was introduced into the Guy11 strain. Two transformants carrying single copy of abc3:GFP allele, tagged at the genomic locus, and two control strains were identified by PCR analyses and further confirmed by Southern and western blot analyses. GFP detection was performed either by epifluorescence microscopy or by confocal laser-scanning fluorescence microscopy. Strains expressing ABC3-GFP showed no obvious differences in growth or pathogenesis compared to the wild type strain, suggesting that ABC3-GFP is fully functional. ABC3-GFP was judged to be a plasma membrane resident protein based on the distinct green fluorescence in the mycelial outer membranes. See FIG. 35. No detectable GFP signals were observed in the conidia of the ABC3:GFP strain (FIG. 35), although the germ tubes showed a faint GFP signal in the plasma membrane.

A time-course analysis during appressorium development and maturity suggested that the ABC3-GFP protein was highly expressed and concentrated in the appressorial plasma membrane right from the incipient stage onwards (FIG. 36). Appressorium development in the germ tubes of the ABC3-GFP strain was monitored over a 24 hour period. At the indicated time points post germination, GFP epifluorescence was imaged to locate the ABC3-GFP fusion protein. At 17 hours post germination, during appressorium maturation, ABC3-GFP signal was predominantly found in the vacuolar compartments (FIG. 36, 20 hours) as well, although the plasma membrane residency was diminished substantially.

For vacuolar staining, LysoTracker™ Red DND-99 (50 nM final concentration) and Neutral Red (50 nM) were used as per the manufacturer's (Invitrogen™) recommendation. Co-localization studies to confirm vacuolar residency involved staining with LysoTracker Red DND-99 or with Neutral Red. Appressoria formed by the Abc3-GFP strain were stained with LysoTracker Red DND-99 (left panel, vacuoles) or with Neutral Red (right panel) at the 20 hour time point to visualize vacuoles. See FIG. 37.

Nitroblue tetrazolium (Sigma-Aldrich™) was used at 4 mg/ml (in de-ionised water) and the staining carried out for 1 hour at room temperature prior to observation. Cell viability was measured by staining dead cells as follows: samples were stained with 20 mg/ml Phloxine B (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) for 1 hour at room temperature and the samples subjected to a short wash with PBS prior to microscopic analysis and quantification. As controls for dead cells, wild-type cells were incubated for 30 min at 65° C. and stained with Phloxine B in parallel. The ABC3-GFP localization during host penetration and invasive growth revealed that ABC3-GFP was present in the plasma membrane of the newly formed penetration hyphae (FIG. 38) but was undetectable in the resultant infection hyphae. Consistent with its role in appressorium function and its localization pattern described above, these data indicate that Magnaporthe ABC3 protein is a transmembrane protein found in the mycelia and predominantly in the appressoria. It therefore is possible that it is most likely required for the efflux of toxic metabolite(s), and/or for regulating the oxidative stress within these highly important fungal infection structures.

Reactive oxygen species were detected by staining with a solution of 3, 3-Diaminobenzidine (DAB, 2 mg/ml) for 2 hours followed by clearing in a solution of acetic acid:glycerol:ethanol (1:2:2) at 80° C. for 5 min and subsequently stored in 3% glycerol or by staining with 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (10 μM; in 30 mM KCl and 10 mM MES-KOH pH 6) for 1 h at room temperature. For fungus-inoculated leaf material, the DAB and Trypan blue stainings were essentially as described (Thordol-Christensen et al., 1997 and Gilbert et al., “A P-type ATPase required for rice blast disease and induction of host resistance” Nature, 440:535-539, 2006 respectively). In the co-staining method, diaminobenzidine was used prior to sample clarification and Trypan blue treatment. Antioxidants ascorbic acid and N-acetylcysteine were used at 5 mM concentration.

The intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species in appressoria was quantified using the fluorescent probe CM-DCFDA (chloromethyl-2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate; Invitrogen Corporation, USA). The appressorial preparation from the requisite strain was washed two times in phosphate-buffered saline and exposed to 50 mM CM-DCFDA in PBS for 1 hour at 28° C. The appressoria then were washed two times in PBS, solubilized in water, and homogenized in a Mini Bead-beater™ to obtain the intracellular extracts. The fluorescence was determined at 488/525 nm, normalized on a protein basis, and expressed as fold change over the wild type control, which was arbitrarily set at 1.

At a later stage during the appressorium formation (17 hours post germination), ABC3-GFP signal was predominantly found in the vacuolar compartments as well, although the plasma membrane residency was not altered. See FIG. 39. Consistent with its role in appressorium function, the localization pattern described above indicates that ABC3 protein is a transmembrane protein found predominantly in the mycelia and the appressoria, where it is most likely required for the efflux of xenobiotic compounds, and/or for regulating the oxidative stress within the fungal structures.

Example 10 abc3Δ Appressoria Accumulate Toxic Metabolite(s)

The prediction that ABC3 protein was an MDR protein raised the possibility that the abc3Δ appressoria could retain cytotoxic molecule(s) that block the appressorial function of elaborating penetration pegs. To investigate this possibility, intracellular and extracellular extracts were prepared from the appressoria of the wild type or abc3Δ strain as described in Example 9, above. See FIG. 40. These extracts were used individually during plant infections with wild type conidia by adding the extracts to wild type conidia in barley leaf infection assays at 0 hours (top panels) or 23 hours (bottom panels) post inoculation. A solvent control at the equivalent concentration was included in parallel. The values in FIG. 40 indicate penetration efficiency (mean values as percentage points±SD from three replicates) calculated after 48 hours by staining papillary callose deposits with aniline blue.

The intracellular extract from the abc3Δ appressoria, when added at the start of the wild type infection, caused a dramatic (˜74%; P<0.005) reduction in penetration-peg formation, by aniline blue staining for papillary callose deposits, See FIG. 40. There was no decrease in the appressorium formation capability under these conditions. The corresponding extract from the wild type appressoria resulted only in a slight decrease (˜24%) in host penetration. This decrease by the wild type extract was comparable to the reduction observed when the extract from either the wild type or the mutant strain was added after the infection had proceeded for 23 hours. See FIG. 40. The control extracts did not cause any significant decrease in the host penetration capability of the wild type appressoria, nor did the extracellular extracts from either the wild type or the abc3Δ appressoria. Theoretically, it is possible that the abc3Δ mutant is unable to efflux certain toxic or inhibitory metabolite(s), the accumulation of which in the mutant appressoria likely inhibits host penetration.

The ability of the abc3Δ appressoria intracellular neutral toxin extract to suppress penetration of artificial substrates by the wild type or mutant strains was tested. To extract intracellular neutral toxins, about 2×10⁶ conidia (wild type or abc3Δ) were inoculated in de-ionised water on the hydrophobic side of GelBond™ membranes (BioWhittaker Molecular Applications™) and allowed to form appressoria for 20 hours at room temperature under high humidity. The deionized water was aspirated and the resultant appressoria washed once with chilled water, scraped immediately and ground into a fine powder using liquid nitrogen. The homogenate was extracted with 1 ml of chloroform/methanol (1/1, v/v) and the mixture shaken for 10 minutes and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. The extracted material was evaporated to dryness using rotary evaporation. The residue was partitioned between 1 ml n-hexane and 1 ml 90% methanol (1/1, v/v); the n-hexane layer was discarded and the methanol layer evaporated to dryness as above. The solids were then partitioned between 1 ml chloroform and 1 ml de-ionized water. The chloroform layer was extracted with saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate solution (3×1 ml). The chloroform layer was then concentrated to dryness and contained the neutral extraction (toxins). This was finally resuspended in 100 ml of deionized water. The same procedure was repeated but without any conidia to serve as a solvent-only control for experiments with the neutral toxins.

To obtain the extracellular toxin(s), about 2×10⁶ conidia (wild type or abc3Δ) were inoculated in deionized water on the hydrophobic side of a GelBond™ film and allowed to form appressoria for 20 hours at room temperature under high humidity. All extracellular solution was collected, centrifuged to pellet the debris, and the remaining supernatant transferred to fresh tubes and concentrated by drying in an Eppendorf™ Concentrator 5301. The dried pellet was resuspended in 0.1 ml deionized water.

Wild type and abc3Δ appressorial assays were performed on PUDO-193 cellophane in the presence (+EXT) or absence (−EXT; solvent control) of this extract. As shown in FIG. 41, addition of the intracellular neutral toxin abc3Δ extract caused a significant reduction (˜85% in wild type and 89% abc3Δ; P<0.005) in appressorium function on cellophane membranes.

Cell viability was assessed with Phloxine B staining in vegetative mycelia from the wild type (FIG. 42, gray) or abc3Δ (FIG. 42, black) in the absence (−EXT; solvent control) or presence (+EXT) of the intracellular neutral toxin extract from the abc3Δ appressoria. The intracellular abc3Δ extract showed minimal effect on the viability of the wild type or abc3Δ mycelia.

The intracellular abc3Δ extract caused a dosage-dependent and noticeable reduction in the elaboration of disease symptoms on rice leaves when included during blast infection assays. Wild type conidia were tested in barley-leaf inoculation assays in the absence (−EXT; solvent control) or presence (+EXT; at 1× or 0.5× concentration) of the extract from the abc3Δ mutant. A parallel experiment was carried out in the absence of conidia. Blast symptoms were assessed and documented 5 days post inoculation. The hypersensitivity reaction (mean values±SD of rice Pr-1/Actin ratio from three independent experiments; P<0.05) was estimated at 48 hours after inoculation. See FIG. 43. The mutant extract also elicited visible hypersensitivity reaction-like symptoms (the occurrence of brown lesions in the absence of fungal biomass in treated samples and the ratio of rice Pr-1 to Actin gene expression). See FIG. 43; P<0.05. ABC3 protein therefore is important for the efflux of certain appressorial metabolite(s), the accretion of which has a negative effect on host penetration.

Example 11 Regulation of ABC3 Expression

Sequence analysis of the ABC3 promoter did not reveal the presence of putative cis-acting regulatory elements or enhancer sequences for stress response factors. However, given the above findings showing the involvement of ABC3 protein in regulating oxidative stress within the fungal cellular structures, tests were performed to determine whether such stress conditions directly influenced abc3 expression. A qualitative and quantitative study of abc3 expression was performed during the infection-related developmental stages of two independent transformants, each carrying a single-copy destabilized GFP reporter driven by the ABC3 promoter.

For GFP fusion with the TrpC terminator, a 1 kb abc3 fragment just proximal to the stop codon and a 1 kb abc3 fragment immediately downstream of the stop were ligated to pFGL44 with an HPH marker to obtain pFGLg1. The eGFP segment with the Trpc Terminator was cut out of pFGL265 by NcoI and PstI double digestion and ligated to pFGLg1 between the two abc3 fragment to obtain pFGLg2. The vector pFGLg2 was introduced into M. grisea using routine transformation protocols as reported in Soundararajan et al., “Woronin body function in Magnaporthe grisea is essential for efficient pathogenesis and for survival during nitrogen starvation stress” Plant Cell, 16:1564-1574, 2004. Transformants were selected on hygromycin and the correct gene replacement event (homology-dependent chromosomal tagging of ABC3 with GFP) confirmed by Southern and western analysis. The ABC3:GFP strains thus obtained were further tested for growth, Valinomycin sensitivity and host-penetration defects to ascertain that the ABC3-GFP was not compromised for function. Conidia from the ABC3(p)::GFP strain were allowed to undergo appressorium development for 24 hours in the absence (Control) or presence (Treated) of 1 mM hydrogen peroxide. See FIG. 44. Epifluorescent microscopic observations were performed at the indicated time points to detect GFP expression driven by the abc3 promoter.

GFP epifluorescence was observed using a Zeiss LSM510 inverted confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss, NY, USA) equipped with a 30 mW argon laser. The objectives were either 63× Plan-Apochromat (numerical aperture 1.4) or a 100× Achromat (n.a. 1.25) oil immersion lens. EGFP was imaged with 488 nm wavelength laser excitation, using a 505-530 nm band pass emission filter, while red fluorescence was detected with 543 nm laser and 560 nm long pass emission filter. Routine photomicrographs were taken using the Photometrics™ CoolSNAP-HQ™ camera mounted on a Nikon Eclipse™ 80i compound microscope equipped with differential interference contrast optics and the standard filters for epifluorescence detection.

As shown in FIG. 44, the destabilized-GFP fluorescence increased dramatically upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide. The fluorescence intensification was four fold higher compared to the untreated control samples, was maximal after a 9 hour treatment and did not show any change after the initial increase. See FIG. 44. Low levels of Paraquat or Valinomycin elicited a similar increase in the ABC3 promoter driven destabilized-GFP expression during appressorium development. These results suggest that the upstream regulatory elements of the abc3 gene respond to the model molecules that generate reactive oxygen radicals and that the abc3 transcript likely is regulated in a redox sensitive manner during infection-related development in Magnaporthe. In a separate experiment, a 1.8 kb fragment before the translational start site of ABC3 was used as a promoter for expressing the destabilized-GFP reporter.

To study whether ABC3 expression also is governed by host signals, semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed to analyze total RNA extracted at various time intervals from barley leaves challenged with wild type conidia, using the methods of Soundararajan et al., “Woronin body function in Magnaporthe grisea is essential for efficient pathogenesis and for survival during nitrogen starvation stress.” Plant Cell, 16:1564-1574, 2004. Along with ABC3, TUB1 (b-Tubulin) and Mg CHAP1 were included as controls. CHAP1 transcript has been shown to be under redox regulation in Cochliobolus (Lev et al., “Activation of an AP1-Like Transcription Factor of the Maize Pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus in Response to Oxidative Stress and Plant Signal.” Eukaryotic Cell, 4:443-454, 2005).

Semi-quantitative RT-PCR-derived products were amplified using ABC3 or MgCHAP1 or MgTUB1 specific primers from total RNA extracted from the wild type strain grown for the indicated hours post inoculation (hpi) on barley leaves. See FIG. 45. Negative control (−RT) refers to the RNA sample processed without a reverse transcriptase step prior to the PCR amplification. GD refers to the PCR amplification of the respective fragments from the genomic DNA samples using the corresponding primer sets. Molecular mass standards (Kb) are represented in kilo-basepair.

As shown in FIG. 45, the highly abundant TUB1 showed hardly any difference in its expression during the duration of the assay. ABC3 expression was always weaker compared to TUB1, but showed an induction at 18-20 hours stage post inoculation. Its expression remained stable and strong after the induction at this time-point and continued to be so up to the 36-hour post inoculation (FIG. 45). CHAP1 expression also peaked at 12-18 hours but declined slightly after the 24-hour time point. Taken together, the results indicate that ABC3 promoter responds positively to the redox status of the cell and that the ABC3 gene expression is likely influenced by the host signals as well, with an induction, just before the fungus readies itself to enter the host tissue.

Sequences of genes referred to herein are available in the EMBL/Genbank data libraries under accession numbers DQ 156556 (ABC3), U89895 (Pe-1), AC104285 (Actin), AJ276225 (HvPr5) and U21907 (Hvact10).

REFERENCES

All references cited here and throughout the application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

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1. An isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein-coding region of the Magnaporthe grisea fungal abc3 gene, which is SEQ ID NO: I, wherein the encoded ABC3 protein is required for the successful entry of the fungus into host tissue.
 2. An isolated nucleic acid encoding the protein-coding region of the fungal abc3 gene corresponding to the nucleic acid of claim 1, wherein said fungal abc3 gene is selected from the group consisting of the abc3 gene of Magnaporthe species, Aspergillus species, Ustilago species and Fusarium species, wherein said nucleic acid encodes an ABC3 protein that is required for the successful entry of the fungus into host tissue.
 3. An isolated Magnaporthe grisea fungal ABC3 protein which is SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said ABC3 protein is required for the successful entry of the fungus into host tissue.
 4. An isolated nucleic acid that encodes the ABC3 protein of claim
 3. 5. A method of rendering a plant pathogenic fungal species selected from the group consisting of Magnaporthe species, Aspergillus species, Ustilago species and Fusarium species non-pathogenic to a plant, which comprises inhibiting expression of fungal ABC3 protein corresponding to the fungal ABC3 protein of claim 3, said method comprising using a replacement plasmid vector.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said plant pathogenic fungal species is Magnaporthe species.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said Magnaporthe species is Magnaporthe grisea.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein said replacement plasmid vector is pFGLabcKO. 